Sunday, November 24, 2013

Bozeman,
Mt – A jury fined a 52-year-old homeless man $150 for fishing
without a license near his habitat at Manhattan, Montana.

Ernie
Tertelgte refused to identify himself when a game warden approached
him, and from there the situation deteriorated with every step of the
procedure of hauling him into court to answer the charge.

Because
he refused to cooperate, the fish and game warden called a local
police officer who attempted to de-escalate the situation, according
to his testimony, but to no avail.

Mr.
Tertelgte insists he is a English esquire, beholden to no King's law.
A magistrate charged him with obstructing an officer and resisting
arrest because he went limp when the officers applied the bracelets.
They had to carry him to the squad car.

When
his court date came, he made numerous outbursts. The judge had him
ejected, and he was unable to cross-examine the witnesses who
appeared against him because he was confined to an adjacent room
where he was forced to watch the trial on video.

A
sampling of some of his actions included his refusal to stand when
the judge entered the room. He claimed that as an English Esquire,
he is beholden to no American judge.

"You
are trying to create a fictitious, fraudulent action." He
continued, "I am the living man, protected by natural law."
He then yelled, "Do not tell me to shut up! I am the living,
natural man, and my voice will be heard!"

Terteltge
then pointed at the flag and said, "That is the Jolly Roger,
that thing you call the American flag with the golf fringe around it
is the Jolly Roger, and you are acting as one of its privateers!"

When
the judge noted that he had pleaded not guilty, Terteltge countered,
"I never plead, animals plead, sounds like baaaa, oink oink."

Spectators
quizzed by a reporter for their opinions reportedly responded by
saying:

“Maybe
they should have just shot him. Dangerous criminal that he is and
all.”

“King's
fish, perhaps? I think police have much more important things to
concern themselves with.

“But
hey! We are FREE people!”

“Man.
Do we ever need to talk. This guy was treated like garbage for being
right. Just because we have allowed ourselves to be lulled into
misguided slavery does not make it right.”

“If
you act like a fool in court, then that is for the jury to observe and
judge; you are allowed to make objections, even bad, foolish
objections; plus, they handcuffed him in another room? They went too far; only if he was a danger to the court should he have been
removed.”